1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a service area notification method in a mobile terminal. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of notifying a mobile terminal user about which service area his mobile terminal is located in and what service types are available in the service area, through the mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a mobile terminal refers to a device, such as a cellular phone, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), PCS (Personal Communication Service) phone, IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication-2000) terminal, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) terminal, or W-LAN (Wireless-Local Areas Network) terminal, that provides a communications function for enabling users to converse while roaming or to exchange data.
The mobile terminal is increasingly considered a necessity, to be carried at all times by any number of worldwide users irrespective of gender and age. The trend of the mobile terminal is toward small size, slimness, lightweight, and multimedia functionality, while taking into account the portability of the device.
In the existing mobile communication system implemented with current mobile terminals (that is, mobile stations, hereinafter referred to as MSs), the entire service area is segmented into relatively small radio areas called cells wherein a number of services are provided in each of the cells.
This mobile communication system is typically comprised of a plurality of base stations (hereinafter referred to as BSs) that cover the cells and MSs that communicate by establishing radio channels with the BSs.
Major access schemes between the BSs and the MSs include FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). In any of the above access schemes, a BS transmits a channel signal by which an MS identifies the BS for access.
The proliferation of such mobile terminals has led to the increase in various services that the BSs can provide to MSs.
However, an MS can transmit/receive a radio signal only within a service area, and available services are distinguished for the MS according to received signal strength indications in the service area.
Therefore, when the MS is out of the service area, it typically outputs an out-of-service area notification message (e.g. NOSVC) to a display.
That is, when the user is out of the range of the service area while roaming and moves to a no-service area, the MS displays a predetermined message or turns on/off a predetermined icon to notify the user that he is out of the service area.
However, it would also be beneficial for the user to be further informed of available service types according to the current received signal strength, rather than to be simply notified that he is out of a service area when he moves out of the service area.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for notifying a user of current service areas and of the service types available in the current service areas.